1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filament winding apparatus and a method thereof that hoop-wind or helical-wind fiber bundles around a mandrel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A filament winding apparatus manufactures a hollow container such as a pressure tank, a pipe, and the like, through a filament winding method. The filament winding method manufactures products (such as pressure tanks) by winding fiber bundles around a mandrel (liner). The fiber bundle is composed of textile materials such as glass fiber or textile materials using synthetic resin, for example.
The filament winding apparatus winds the fiber bundles, which are fed from a head portion, around the mandrel. The head portion includes a hoop winding head that performs hoop-winding and a helical winding head that performs helical-winding. Hoop-winding winds the fiber bundles at a substantially right angle with respect to an axial direction of the mandrel (FIG. 7A). Helical-winding winds the fiber bundles at a predetermined angle with respect to the axial direction of the mandrel (FIGS. 7B and 7C).
A conventional filament winding apparatus fixes, to the mandrel, an end portion of the fiber bundle fed from the hoop winding head or the helical winding head, and then rotates the mandrel. By rotation of the mandrel, the fiber bundle is fed from each head and wound around the mandrel, and thus hoop-winding or helical-winding is performed. Therefore, in order not to feed a wasteful fiber bundle (wasted fiber) from the hoop winding head by rotation of the mandrel during helical-winding, the fiber bundle from the hoop winding head is cut by a cutter or the like to be separated from the mandrel after hoop-winding.
In another conventional filament winding apparatus, a fiber bundle is not cut by a cutter or the like after hoop winding, and during helical-winding, the hoop winding head is retreated from the mandrel, and the fiber bundle is fed from the hoop winding head and wound at the retreated position (disposal fiber).